The Scorpion and the Knight

Hollywood Book Reviews

Sitting in a hole in the desert was not what Robert Simmonwood expected when recruited to serve his King in war, and yet there he waits as a trusted spy of the King in the Crusades to bring the Christian savior back to the Holy Land. Author George E. Garner’s novel “The Scorpion and the Knight” begins in this hole in the desert, but turns into much more.

The novel takes place in many different places around the world, from Venice to Rome and back again from Egypt to Syria. The setting resonates strongly with the history of war in the Middle East — including the current political climate. The Knight and main protagonist, Robert, has a sometimes uneasy balance between having to fight a war against these native people, but also understanding on a deeper level that most of them just want to continue peacefully about their lives. It’s such a perfect, medieval, reflection of the history of Easterner to Westerner division. Garner even writes early in the novel about how long it takes for people to realize not all Muslims are the enemy, and how such a lack of respect and disunity breeds arrogance and provocation.

The story at times rambles along. There is a lot of peripheral information that intrudes upon the dialogue and slows the action scenes. Partly because “The Scorpion and the Knight” is building towards the rest of the series, but also because of the constant onslaught of political side notes and brief histories, this first novel is very slow to climax. Once it does reach its primary action, the thrill gets lost in this meandering way of telling the story.

Inadvertently, the dialogue acts in a similar way. The character to character interactions themselves are very good, written perfectly to reflect the personalities of the different characters. Unfortunately, most of the dialogue is written in block paragraphs. It needs some proofing to make the quotation marks and other punctuation points fully correct. For example, there’s a pivotal point in antagonist, Luca’s, career where he discusses with his ship captain selling their hostages as slaves. It’s a crucial conversation to understanding the absolute cruelty of Luca’s personality, but it’s very difficult to read without proper punctuation or breaking up the paragraph.

The protagonist and antagonist are mirror opposites of each other. The hero, Robert, is dashingly handsome, smart, resourceful, and above all, honorable. He is born to a nobleman and loving mother, and is his parents’ pride and joy. The villain, Luca, is born poor and ill-used by his father. He becomes a cruel, cunning young man. By the time the novel takes place, Luca is a complex and angry old man, obsessed with revenge. Because of this, the story takes on comic book feel. Robert is the classically good hero, and Luca is the conniving villain. Like many villains, Luca’s backstory becomes more interesting than Robert’s; it is full of strife and struggle where Robert’s is peaceful and predictable. You find yourself cheering for Luca, who has overcome significant odds, at least as much as you cheer for Robert. Because of his backstory, Luca is by far a more compelling character.

The entire host of characters, some of whom are described in detail and others left tauntingly vague, play well into the plot of the story. “The Scorpion and the Knight” is a wild journey and fun read. Garner takes a historically complex setting and introduces a fantastical cast of characters, making for both an exotic and riveting story.